The Japanese government is struggling to devise a response to President Donald Trump's Jan. 23 announcement that the United States would make a permanent exit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact, to which Japan is a signatory.
Japan had sought to build an environment where it could convince Trump not to pull out of the TPP, but the new president shot down these efforts with his emphatic rejection of the pact.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo will look to maintain its position of communicating the significance of free trade to the U.S.
"I think Mr. Trump understands the importance of free and fair trade. We'd like to patiently try to convince him of the strategic and historical importance of the TPP," he told a House of Councillors plenary session on Jan. 24. He was responding to questions from Renho, leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party.
"I've heard that the U.S. government has gone through some internal procedures. We will have to watch what actions it will take externally," Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a Jan. 24 news conference.
Read the full story at The Mainichi